Branching Out: Clever Floral Arrangements

I took a nice walk today purple asters, yellow goldenrod, and brilliant red berries (plant is not identified as of yet). It made me think of my friend Jenny Cox who would take a ho-hum grocery store bunch of flowers, take a ten minute walk with some clippers, and come back with an amazing arrangement that was part A&P, part woods behind school. There would be interesting curly twigs, twigs with berries, and twigs with interesting leaves in the mix. All of the sudden the $7 bouquet looked like something from the cover of Martha Stewart Living.

During these economic conditions, I've had to cut out my fresh flower budget and it was very depressing to me as I love to keep fresh flowers in the house at all times. However, I realized that even in my tiny backyard there are interesting branches I can swipe, and they tend to last a lot longer than store-bought flowers. I think of it as my own little local floral movement: They are pesticide free and they no energy was wasted delivering them to my kitchen!

If you don't have quick and easy access to branches, I've included a few branch-inspired alternatives at the bottom of the ideabook. Without further ado, let's check out some lovely branches around the homes of Houzz!